AU664658B2 - Roof tiles - Google Patents

Description

ROOF TILES This invention relates to roofing tiles and is particularly concerned with providing a roofing tile, and a roofing system, which will assist in the protection of guttering from the intrusion of foreign matter such as leaves which might fall on a house roof and be washed into a conventional gutter.

Many attempts have been made to solve the problem of leaf and other detritus collection in household guttering. These include the placement of rolled plastics covered wire products of comparatively small aperture in a gutter; the provision of socalled "concealed" guttering which is comparatively successful in the prevention of intrusion of leaf and other detritus thereinto but, because of the small entry apertures for water, is not effective as guttering in heavy storms; and the securement of fine mesh plastics cloth material around the perimeter of a house roof, the material being secured between tiles of adjacent rows and clipped to the outer rim of the guttering.

No currently available solution to the aforesaid problem has proven to be ideal in practice, since each solution effects a compromise between prevention of admission of leaves and other detritus to guttering on the one hand, and accommodation of rainfall in periods of prolonged rain or of heavy storms on the other.

It is an object of this invention to ameliorate the aforesaid difficulties occasioned by conventional guttering techniques.

There is disclosed herein a roof tile comprising: :a first substantially rectangular base portion adapted for secirement to a house o roof; a second substantially rectangular tile portion elevated above said base portion 25 and having a portion thereof extending beyond the vertical projection of one edge of said base portion; an open web between said base portion and said elevated tile portion; S.. said elevated tile portion being provided with an arcuate edge in the portion :i thereof extending beyond the vertical projection of the base portion, this arcuate edge being oo *o o [N:'LIBHH)OC.t7:lam -2adapted to allow water flowing over the elevated tile portion to follow a course over the aforesaid curved edge and substantially vertically downwards therefrom to fall into a gutter over which tho extended part of the elevated tile portion projects, or to fall between elevated portions of successive tiles on a roof to flow along the upper surface of the tile base portion and thence into house guttering.

It is further preferred that the tile base portion be provided at either side with ribbed edges adapted to accommodate side-by-side placement of successive tiles in a tile row on a house roof.

It is further preferred that the tile base portion be provided with one or more projections disposed below the base portion to facilitate securement of the tile to a roof batten.

By way of example only, one preferred embodiment of a tile according to the current invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view from above of the tile of this invention; Fig. 2 is a front view of the tile of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view from the front and below of the tile of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a side view of the tile of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a section of a roof incorporating tiles according to Fig. 1.

In the drawings, tile 1 incorporates base portion 2 and upper 25 portion 3 connected to base portion 2 by web members 4. Both base portion 2 and upper portion 3 are of substantially rectangular shape.

Upper portion 3 is offset relative to base portion 2 so that an end 6 of base portion 2 projects beyond upper portion 3 and an end portion 7 of upper portion 3 projects beyond base portion 2, projecting portion 7 30 of upper tile portion 3 ends in arcuate and channeled tip 8. Water S running down the upper surface of tile portion 3 when tile 1 Is placed on a house roof will traverse tip 8 and be thereby directed downwards into a gutter over which tip 8 might project or, where tile 1 !s BFD/1161t -3located in a row of tiles remote from the house guttering, water traversing tile portion 3 flowing over tip 8 will be caught by end portion 6 of base 2 of next adjacent tile 1.

Base portion 2 of tile 1 is provided with opposite edge portions 10, 12 appropriately grooved so that adjacent tiles 1 in a row of tiles might interlock. End 6 of base portion 2 of tile 1 is provided on its under surface with a pair of projections 14 adapted to be located adjacent the upper side of a roof batten to allow securement of tile 1 to a house roof.

The tile of this invention is preferably fabricated from light weight or foamed concrete material in order to minimise the weight of the tile. Fabrication in plastics material is a particularly preferred form of the invention, such plastics tiles being particularly useful in earthquake areas, given their light weight. Where light weight or foamed concrete is used as the material from which the tile is fabricated, a thin plastics coating may also be provided to the tile upper surface or to the entire exposed tile surface.

The top surface of upper portion 3 may be provided with any fancy shape to accommodate the tastes of end users.

20 When a roof is tiled with a series of rows of tiles 1, water falling on the upper surface of upper tile portion 3 will, depending on the intensity of the downpour, be conducted wholly or partly over arcuate end portions 8 of the tiles incorporated in the roof and will thereafter run along successive surfaces of base portion 6 of adjacent 25 tiles, through web members 4. This water will be conducted to the housing gutter. The overlapping end portion 7 of the row of tiles •adjacent the guttering will protect the guttering from leaves and other •detritus washed down the surface of upper portions 3 of the tiles of the roof.

BFD/1161t -4- In Fig. 5, house roof portion shown generally at 20 incorporates roof cap 21, tiles 1 and roof rafters 22. Given the above described construction of tile 1, hot air in the roof cavity above house ceiling level will have a series of escape paths as indicated by arrows in Fig. 5. Clearly, there will be resultant greater insulation properties in a roof on which tiles 1 are laid since the air gap between base portion 2 and upper portion 3 will allow for much reduced heat build up in the roof cavity. Roof cavity ventilation will be improved as the peak or apex of the roof surfaces will be open to allow breathing of the roof cavity between base portion 2 and upper portion 3 of tile 1.

BFD/1161t

Claims (11)

1. A roof tile comprising: a first substantially rectangular base portion adapted for securement to a house roof; a second substantially rectangular tile portion elevated above said base portion and having a portion thereof extending beyond the vertical projection of one edge of said base portion; an open web between said base portion and said elevated tile portion; said elevated tile portion being provided with an arcuate edge in the portion thereof extending beyond the vertical projection of the base portion, said arcuate edge being adapted to allow water flowing over the elevated tile portion to follov, a course over said arcuate edge and substantially vertically downwards therefrom to fall into a gutter over which said extended part of said elevated tile portion projects, or to fall between elevated portions of successive tiles on a roof to flow along upper surfaces of Is one or more tile base portions and thence into a gutter. .ooooi

2. The roof tile of claim 1 wherein said tile base portion is provided at either side with ribbed edges adapted to accommodate side-by-side placement of successive tiles in a tile row on a roof. .i

3. The roof tile of any one of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said tile base portion is provided with one or more projections disposed below said base portion to facilitate securement of said tile to a roof batten. OV. 4, The roof tile of any one, of claims I to 3 whei-.in said tile consists of a

4. The roof tile of any one of claims I to 3 wherein said tile consists of a o• plastics material. oi:"

5. The roof tile of any one of claims I to 3 wherein said tile consists of light weight or foamed concrete.

6. The roof tile of claim 5 wherein said tile is partially or entirely coated in plastics. !t LIBHH10347 vi -6-

7. A roofing system comprising a series of rows of roofing tiles, each roofing tile being as defined in any one of claims 1 to 6, each row of tiles comprising a plurality of tiles disposed adjacent one another, each tile being disposed at an angle above the horizontal such that said projecting portion extending beyond said vertical projection of said base portion is the lowest part of said elevated tile portion, said series of rows of tiles comprising a lowermost row and one or more upper rows disposed above said lowermost row, each tile of said lowermost row being disposed above a gutter such that water flowing across either the base portion or the elevated portion will flow over the lowermost edges of the elevated portion and the base portion, respectively, and into said gutter, each upper row overlapping the subjacent row in such a manner that water falling on the elevated portion of an upper row tile will flow across this elevated portion and over said extending portion to flow across the base portion of the subjacent tile, said overlapping also being in such a manner that water flowing across the base portion of a tile will flow onto the base portion of the subjacent tile.

8. The roofing system of claim 7 wherein adjacent tiles in each row of .i tiles interlock to maintain the positions of the adjacent tiles relative to one another.

9. The roofing system of claim 7 or claim 8 wherein said roofing tiles 0o permit ventilation of a roof cavity covered by said tiles.

A roof tile substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. A roofing system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this Twenty-first Day of September 1995 Mark Kimmorley Patent Attorneys for the Applicant s RA,\ SPRUSON FERGUSON N;.UIBHHI00347 am C; Roof Tiles Abstract A roofing tile for the protection of guttering from the intrusion of leaves and other foreign matter, the roofing tile (1) having a base portion a portion of which projects beyond elevated portion Part of the elevated portion has an arcuate edge and extends beyond base portion Webs supprt the elevated portion above the base portion Ribs (10) serve to locate adjacent tiles relative to one another. o Fig. 1 s•eeI a *a. BFD/1161t